Paintball marker having unitary regulated pressure and utilizing a spring to load paintballs

ABSTRACT

A paintball gun that operates entirely under a single stage of gas pressure and uses fewer parts thereby resulting in lower manufacturing costs and higher reliability without any significant impact on its firing sequence rate. The paintball gun employs a mechanical spring to reset the ram. Resetting of the ram by a mechanical spring being returned to a less compressed condition, does not appear to have any significant effect on firing and reloading sequence rates as compared to resetting the ram with pneumatic operation. Employing a mechanical spring to reset the ram, reduces the complexity of the pneumatic valve. The less complex pneumatic valve can readily operate under higher gas pressure such as up to 300 psig thereby making it unnecessary to have a second stage of pressure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to apparatus commonly referred to as paintball markers or guns. The invention relates more particularly to a paintball gun which uses a single operating pressure to both fire the paintball and activate a ram and uses a spring to return the ram to its ready position.

2. Background Art

Numerous prior art paintball guns employ an assembly comprising a gas storage area with a controlled outlet known as an exhaust valve, a pneumatic cylinder known as a ram and bolt that opens a firing chamber allowing a paintball to be loaded into the chamber for being fired by the sudden impulse of compressed gas. Such prior art guns employ two pressure regulators. A first regulator accepts high pressure gas from a storage container and reduces the pressure to a first stage level suitable for firing the paintball out of the firing chamber and through a gun barrel toward a remote target. A second stage regulator then further reduces the gas pressure that is used to activate and reset the ram. When actuated, the ram impacts the exhaust valve to release first stage gas into the firing chamber to fire the paintball. Second stage pressure is controlled to then reset the ram for the next paintball.

The use of two different regulators to produce two different reduced levels of gas pressure has distinct disadvantages. First and foremost it incurs a high cost of manufacture because of the additional expensive parts. Second, it results in a higher rate of maintenance problems. Historically, these disadvantages have been tolerated primarily for certain reasons. One such reason is the firing and re-loading sequence speed. It has been assumed that the use of gas pressure to control the ram resetting is necessary for achieving high speeds as opposed to a non-pressure mechanical control such as the use of a spring for resetting. Another reason for use of two distinct gas pressures in paintball guns is the assumption that pneumatic valves cannot operate reliably over long periods and over many sequences at pressures above 100 psig.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention belies the inaccuracy of the aforementioned historical assumptions of the design of prior art paintball guns. The paintball gun of the invention, in its preferred embodiment, employs a mechanical spring to reset the ram. Resetting of the ram by a mechanical spring being returned to a less compressed condition, does not appear to have any significant effect on firing and reloading sequence rates as compared to resetting the ram with pneumatic operation. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, the present invention recognizes that employing a mechanical spring to reset the ram, reduces the complexity of the pneumatic valve by, for example, permitting use of a three-way poppet valve as opposed to a five-way spool valve. The less complex poppet pneumatic valve can readily operate under higher gas pressure exceeding 150 psig and up to as much as 300 psig thereby making it unnecessary to have a second stage of pressure.

Thus the present invention provides a paintball gun that operates entirely under a single stage of gas pressure and uses fewer parts thereby resulting in lower manufacturing costs and higher reliability without any significant impact on its firing sequence rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aforementioned objects and advantages of the present invention, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be more fully understood herein after as a result of a detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the following drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of a paintball gun employing the inventive features hereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the accompanying figure, it will be seen that a paintball gun 10 used to propel paintballs 5, comprises handgrip 21, a trigger 17 and a main body 12 forming a gas storage area 19 into which compressed air is released from an inlet 15. An airflow control tube 13 separates the main body 12 from a firing chamber 14 which is aligned with a hopper 16 to receive a paintball 5. Firing chamber 14 is aligned horizontally with a barrel 18 and a bolt 24, the latter moveable in and out of the firing chamber 14 during firing and subsequent thereto, respectively.

Airflow control tube 13 comprises a ram 22, an exhaust valve 20 and a return spring 28. A pneumatic valve 23 in main body 12 controls pressure into ram 22 at the appropriate time in the firing sequence to force the bolt 24 into the firing chamber 14 and impact the exhaust valve 20 to suddenly release compressed air from the gas storage air 19, through the exhaust valve 20 and into the firing chamber 14, to propel the paintball 5 through the barrel 18. Passages 25 and 29 to permit the flow of gas to the firing chamber and passage 27 permits airflow into the ram 22. After firing of a paintball, return spring 28 returns the ram to its ready position with the spring returning to a less compressed configuration.

Spring 28 is configured to compress more when the ram is activated and less in returning the ram to its ready state. Using a spring to reset the ram, permits simplification of the pneumatic valve which allows use of a three-way poppet valve that can withstand operation at high pressure. A quick-vent exhaust valve 30 allows the ram to be re-set rapidly and thus not affect the sequencing rate.

Having thus disclosed a preferred embodiment, variations of the inventive features will now be perceived by those having skill in the relevant art. Accordingly, the scope hereof is to be limited only by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. 

1. A paintball gun having a body forming an air chamber to which there is an inlet for attachment to a compressed air source, an electric circuit-controlled pneumatic valve controlling air flow from the air chamber into a paintball firing chamber and a ram controlling an air chamber exhaust valve for releasing compressed air into the firing chamber for propelling a paintball toward a remote target, the ram also controlling a bolt to open the firing chamber for loading another paintball for subsequent firing from the gun; the paintball gun comprising: a spring for returning said ram to its ready position after said paintball is fired from said firing chamber; and a pressure regulator for generating a unitary pressure of compressed air for both activating said ram and firing a paintball from said firing chamber.
 2. The paintball gun recited in claim 1 wherein said spring is configured to be compressed during activation of said ram.
 3. The paintball gun recited in claim 1 wherein said unitary pressure exceeds 150 psig.
 4. The paintball gun recited in claim 1 wherein air pressure applied to activate said ram is substantially equal to the air pressure used to fire a paintball from said firing chamber.
 5. The paintball gun recited in claim 1 further comprising a quick-vent exhaust valve for rapidly releasing air from the ram after a paintball has been fired.
 6. The paintball gun recited in claim 1 wherein said pneumatic valve comprises a poppet valve capable of operating at pressures exceeding 150 psig. 